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Birth
Berlin, Prussia -
Period: to
Frederick the Great of Prussia
Frederick is often remembered as the father of Prussian militarism, but Prussia’s location as a border state between larger empires meant that frequent wars were hardly a new phenomenon. Frederick’s long reign unified rationalism and military tradition, yielding a highly trained army and a militaristic system of public education. -
Period: to
Humiliated by his father
As Frederick grew, he preferred music, literature and French culture and it clashed with his father's militarism, resulting in Frederick William frequently beating and humiliating him -
Prince Frederick
With the death of his father in 1713, Frederick William was crown King of Prussia, thus making young Frederick the crown prince. -
Age 18
At age 18 Frederick attempted to escape to England, where his maternal grandfather George I was king, he searched for personal freedom and a new Prussian alliance with the British. -
Marriage
In 1733 he married Elizabeth of Brunswick-Bevern in a purely political union. -
Publication
In 1739 he published a philosophical refutation of Machiavelli, unaware that he would eventually become just the sort of cunning, enlightened despot idealized in “The Prince.” -
Crown King
Frederick II took the throne on May 31, 1740 -
Treaty Negotiations
They created a treaty ending the war between Bohemia and Prussia -
Period: to
7 Years War
1756 Europe’s longstanding alliances reorganized during the Diplomatic Revolution, where Austria allied with France and Russia as Prussia sided with England. The Seven Years’ War came to a formal end in 1763. -
Resuming Ruling
In 1763, Frederick resumed his domestic programs, reformed the Prussian government into separate ministries to allow rational division of tasks and easy executive control. -
One of his greatest successes
In 1769 he tried indirectly to interest Catherine II of Russia in a partition. By January 1771, however, faced by strong Austrian opposition to her expansionist ambitions in southeastern Europe, the empress had changed her mind. -
Death
(aged 74)
Potsdam, Prussia
